speech

Origin & mnemonic

This radical originates from a pictograph representing speech and language, with a mouth (the center stroke) emitting words or utterances (the surrounding strokes). In seal script and oracle-bone script, it depicts the act of speaking and conveying ideas.

Mnemonic: Picture a mouth releasing lines of words—the speech radical shows three vertical strokes plus slanted marks suggesting utterance flowing outward.

• 诌zhōu🔊

  to make up (a story)

  7 strokes

• 诎qū🔊

  to bend

  7 strokes

• 诏zhào🔊

  (literary) to admonish

  7 strokes

• 诐bì🔊

  unfair

  7 strokes

• 诒yí🔊

  (archaic) to present

  7 strokes

• 𧮪zhān🔊

  garrulous

  7 strokes

• 该gāi🔊

  should

  HSK 2

  8 strokes

• 话huà🔊

  dialect

  HSK 1

  8 strokes

• 试shì🔊

  HSK 1

  8 strokes

• 诗shī🔊

  poem

  HSK 4

  8 strokes

• 诡guǐ🔊

  (bound form) sly; crafty

  8 strokes

• 诧chà🔊

  to be surprised

  8 strokes

• 诚chéng🔊

  (bound form) sincere; authentic

  8 strokes

• 诓kuāng🔊

  to mislead

  8 strokes

• 诔lěi🔊

  to eulogize the dead

  8 strokes

• 诖guà🔊

  to deceive

  8 strokes

• 诘jié🔊

  (bound form) to question closely; to interrogate

  8 strokes

• 诙huī🔊

  whimsical

  8 strokes

• 诛zhū🔊

  to put (a criminal) to death

  8 strokes

• 诜shēn🔊

  to inform

  8 strokes

• 诞dàn🔊

  birth

  8 strokes

• 诟gòu🔊

  disgrace

  8 strokes

• 诠quán🔊

  to explain

  8 strokes

• 询xún🔊

  to ask about

  8 strokes

• 诣yì🔊

  to go (to visit a superior)

  8 strokes

• 诤zhèng🔊

  to admonish

  8 strokes

• 详xiáng🔊

  detailed

  8 strokes

• 诨hùn🔊

  jest

  8 strokes

• 诩xǔ🔊

  to brag

  8 strokes

• 说shuō🔊

  to speak; to talk; to say

  HSK 1

  9 strokes

• 诶éi🔊

  variant of 欸[ei2]

  9 strokes

• 语yǔ🔊

  dialect

  9 strokes

• 误wù🔊

  mistake

  HSK 6

  9 strokes

• 诱yòu🔊

  (literary) to induce; to entice

  9 strokes

• 诫jiè🔊

  commandment

  9 strokes

• 訄qiú🔊

  (literary) to coerce sb

  9 strokes

• 訇hōng🔊

  sound of a crash

  9 strokes

• 诪zhōu🔊

  (literary) to curse

  9 strokes

• 诬wū🔊

  to accuse falsely

  9 strokes

• 诮qiào🔊

  ridicule

  9 strokes

• 诰gào🔊

  to enjoin

  9 strokes

• 诲huì🔊

  to teach

  9 strokes

• 诳kuáng🔊

  to deceive; to dupe

  9 strokes

• 诵sòng🔊

  to read aloud

  9 strokes

• 谁shéi🔊

  who

  HSK 1

  10 strokes

• 请qǐng🔊

  to ask

  HSK 1

  10 strokes

• 谈tán🔊

  to speak

  HSK 3

  10 strokes

• 读dú🔊

  to read out; to read aloud

  HSK 1

  10 strokes